This invention relates to systems and methods for managing livestock, such as cattle, from conception to consumption. More particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods in which members of the livestock production chain, such as producers, feedlot managers, packers, and retailers, are brought together through an Internet-based platform which integrates information, technology-based tools, and electronic commerce designed to improve communication throughout the livestock industry and to provide systems and methods for tracking animal performance, creating increased value, and improving overall operational efficiency and quality.
The livestock industry is a multi-billion dollar business. Beginning at the producer or ranch level, owners typically raise animals until they are a certain age and weight. Livestock owners sell a majority of their animals via local auction sale barns or through order buyers. Sometimes the livestock are purchased by buyers acting on behalf of feedlots or stocker operations. After sorting and comingling the animals, which may occur several times, the animals are sold to the feedlots or stocker operations. Typically, all animals eventually end up at feedlots (sold or under retained ownership) where they are grown to selling weight. Finally, the livestock are sold to packers (e.g., a slaughterhouse) for harvesting and delivery to retail and food service distributors. Throughout this process, the livestock industry must meet consumer demands for quality, consistency, animal welfare, cost, and convenience.
Typically, producers, such as ranchers, may enroll in branded beef or marketing programs to increase their livestock's revenue potential. A branded beef or marketing program typically requires that the animals are processed according to specific guidelines. However, there is no standard method for verifying that a rancher has complied with the program's guidelines. Typically, branded beef programs are verified by verbal acknowledgment, which at times may cause distrust amongst producers and buyers.
In conjunction with the lack of verification capabilities, there is a need for monitoring and tracking animals as they move through the supply chain. For example, during the auctioning phase, it is typical for the animals to comingle. The animals may be comingled at assimilation sites and then later sorted for shipment to customers as a truckload. Once the animals comingle, they lose their identity, and with each subsequent comingling, owners and buyers possess less information about each individual animal. Therefore, due to comingling and other practices of conventional livestock marketing, even the healthiest animal becomes an anonymous commodity. This creates a need for more efficient and more humane sorting, transportation, handling, monitoring, and tracking methods.
As a result of losing information on each animal, such as a calf's vaccination and health history, the cost of healthcare for animals increases. For example, without vaccination histories on individual animals, feedlot managers may vaccinate all the animals upon arrival to their facility to minimize sickness and death. With vaccination and health histories for each animal along with current status such as weight and temperature, feedlot managers may more appropriately treat each animal with a specific health regiment.
Typically, feedlot managers feed the animals until the animals are at their optimal selling weight. The feedlot typically includes a multitude of pens that are utilized to confine the animals during their final growth phase. During the final growth phase, each pen is provided with a given amount of feed per day. The animals gain weight at different rates and there is a need for identifying the optimal time for selling them to packers. It is also difficult to access performance records of various feedlots. Feedlot managers may desire to compare operational and performance parameters of their feedlots with other feedlots.
In addition, many people, such as cowhands and feedlot personnel, are required to attend to the animals at ranches and feedlots. These people provide valuable insight by relying on personal experiences, visual observations, and measurements. However, there is a growing shortage of these people in the industry.
Information is as critical to the livestock industry as it is to any other business. Members of the livestock production chain need information such as complete weather reports, commodity and futures prices, performance data on each animal, breaking industry news, and in-depth analyses by industry experts. They also require recommendations and insight from experts, such as veterinarians, processing crews, etc. Unfortunately, most livestock owners lose valuable time consulting multiple sources to obtain the necessary information and recommendations.
Other individuals have attempted to solve these problems. For example, Pratt U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,647 and Pratt U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,361 describe an automated method and system for providing individual animal electronic identification, measurement and value based management of cattle in a large cattle feedlot. In the '647 and '361 patents, Pratt describes a process wherein a computer stores individual animal measurement, performance and location data, which is used by management to select animals for shipment from the feedlot for slaughter at the optimum time.
As a result, livestock management systems and methods have been developed in which members of the livestock production chain may access a central database and application-specific programs via the Internet.
These livestock management systems and methods provide communication and integration between specific applications and tools, such as a certification system, a tracking system, a compliance enforcement system, an adaptive reasoning system, a sorting system, a genetics improvement system, an environmental management system, an adaptive logistics system, a supply and demand management system, an electronic commerce system, an integrated risk management system, and a consumer value system. These systems improve communication, provide means to track animal performance, create incremental value, and improve overall efficiency that results in a safer and more economical meat supply.